!@#$%^&**&^ Drum infront of kick?!

[BassDriver]

http://www.pro-music-news.com/html/05/31113br1.jpg
Gafawwh!

Why is there a drum in front of the kick and what is it called?

http://www.drumshack.co.uk/uploads/images_categories/315.jpg
...and what about this?

EXPLAIN!

[Naigewron]

Calm down, you'll get a heart attack :-)

The first one is a kick drum woofer. It's said to add a bit of "oomph" to the drum

The second is a Yamaha Subkick. It's a microphone for catching the lowest frequencies of the kick drum.

[BassDriver]

*gets off the floor (exiting panic attack)*

...cool...same idea basically, giving the kick some more balls (different methods though)...could one use a woofer as a second kick drum?

[Solaris]

Yep, in fact I think Terry Bozzio used/uses one or two DW Woofers as aux. kicks.

[Naigewron]

...cool...same idea basically, giving the kick some more balls (different methods though)...

Yeah, sort of the same idea, but the Subkick only gives it more oomph in a recording or amplified situation, while the woofer does it acoustically.

could one use a woofer as a second kick drum?

Sure, you could use a woofer as a second kick. It's very shallow though (typically 8-10 inches deep), so it wouldn't sound like a "normal" kick drum. Also, it usually doesn't have legs, so you'd need to add that.

[eddiehimself]

Sure, you could use a woofer as a second kick. It's very shallow though (typically 8-10 inches deep), so it wouldn't sound like a "normal" kick drum. Also, it usually doesn't have legs, so you'd need to add that.

I'm pretty sure they have legs. The one in the pic does at least.

[Naigewron]

I'm pretty sure they have legs. The one in the pic does at least.

You're right, some of them seem to have legs. I know DW woofers don't have them though:
http://www.dwdrums.com/showroom/images/satin/NATURAL-OIL-(short).jpg

[Chonson]

Yeah, sort of the same idea, but the Subkick only gives it more oomph in a recording or amplified situation, while the woofer does it acoustically.


Should be noted that the woofer has a mic in it for a reason. While it adds some low-end (but really, no more than you'd notice with a couple deep floor toms or a second bass drum), it really is only useful/noticeable when you're recording and using the woofer as a second mic, much like you'd use the subkick.

However, the woofer tends to add more of a resonant note at the bass drum's pitch; the subkick adds a perceived thump. Usually you would tune a bass drum for attack and mic to emphasize that (eg beta 91, md421, etc) and then the woofer for resonance.

In either case, you almost always have to gate the signal to keep it sounding tight, but they're far apart in terms of where they reinforce the sound in my experience.

Also, they're not always useful (the woofer more rarely useful than the subkick) - if you need an older punchy kick sound, you're better served with a dynamic + condenser or condenser-only solution.

[MusiQmaN]

to add: You can use the sub as a stand alone mic if wanted. Thats how I use it at home. Live I use it as a sub.

[mcbike]

you can get the same effect as the subkick by wiring a speaker in reverse an plugging it in as a microphone. Studios have been using this for years, yamaha just made it look pretty and made a stand for it.

I've used 12" guitar speakers, 8" bass speakers, even sony home stereo speakers as mics. you can save alot of money doing it yourself.

[MusiQmaN]

Not exactly the same. They didn't ''just made it look pretty and made a stand for it''

The subkick uses a special designed speaker:

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1281/4353153/9184002/278117003.jpg

It was based on the NS-10 speaker if im right.

Besides that. I rather like to see a nice designed shell with a speaker than the (most of the time good working, that's true) monsterous homemade designs. But thats a personal opinion.